15 artists plan premiere show Saturday at Artisan Cafe, downtown Warren

By Ed Runyan

runyan@vindy.com

WARREN

Fifteen local artists will fill a restored former warehouse along the B&O Railroad tracks downtown in the next two days with art consisting of print, performance, multimedia and interactive pieces.

The show, at the Artisan Cafe building, 410 S. Main St., will be the first for what artists Adam Gregory, Carl Henneman and James Shuttic are calling the Warren Arts Center.

The 7 to 10 p.m. Saturday show is called “Think, not another art show: An Exploration of DADA,” referring to the Dadaism philosophy and movement from the early 20th century that flouted conventional ideas and promoted spontaneity.

Gregory said the show is a way to promote the arts in Warren by making more people aware of the large number of artists here and bring artists together to encourage and inspire one another.

The 18,000-square-foot, 110-year-old building next door to the Warren Health Department has been subdivided into seven artist studios on the first floor and has a huge second-floor space that will be used for exhibits.

One of the things the Warren Arts Center hopes to do with the proceeds from the show is rent one or more of the studios to provide opportunities for artists to rent a space for a limited time at a low cost.

“A lot of artists can’t afford the $200 or $250 per month,” Gregory said. The Warren Arts Center wants to provide space for an exhibit or art classes for $5 per hour.

The building was tailor-made for artistic expression, with exposed pine beams and brick, plus modern amenities.

“It’s a cool building. Artists like originality and functionality and price,” said Shuttic.

“I’m loving this setting and atmosphere,” added Henneman, who is a visual artist and poet whose presentation will embrace the Dadaism theme: He’ll be facing away from the audience; he won’t be reading directly to the audience the way such “readings” typically occur.

“We are helping artists who are getting their feet in the water,” Shuttic said, adding that this show will be different from ones in Warren’s past in that it isn’t meant as a way to sell art.

In fact, the men said it took a while to make some of the artists understand the noncommercial concept they wanted. “We want to do something that is just fun,” Shuttic said.

There isn’t a lot of parking near the Artisan Cafe, so attendees are asked to park for free in the nearby Franklin Street Parking Deck and ride the recently renovated Warren Trolley to the show.

Admission is free. Proceeds will come from beer and wine sales and donations.